Thousands of students have been defrauded by the predatory practices of for-profit colleges. In response to this dangerous phenomena, Senators Durbin and Hassan have introduced the PROTECT Students Act. This legislation aims to protect students and and taxpayers from predatory practices of the for-profit college industry, and would hold them accountable when they engage in unfair, deceptive, and other fraudulent practices.

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and others have proposed a program that would create mandatory automatic deductions from people’s paychecks to repay their student loans. Our partners at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) argue why forcing borrowers to pay their student loans by withholding their full paychecks does more harm to them than good.

While education is considered the great equalizer in society, the costs of college and the burdens of student debt are particularly great for students of color. For these students and their the educational and economic success, it is a very unequal playing-field. Our partners identify some of the leading factors contributing to this inequality, and give Members of Congress their recommendations to fix these problems.

Student loan borrowers like Melissa are demanding action from lawmakers to address key parts of our student debt crisis. The stories of borrowers make the case for why we need accountability for predatory of student loan companies, and why loan forgiveness programs are necessary to help everyone dealing with student debt.